Getting started with your first road bike is exciting. You have lots of options to choose from, and there are many things you need to consider the type of frame and drivetrain you want to use for the long term. It is a lot more complicated than picking out the bicycle by color.
TOP 5 ROAD BICYCLES FOR LESS THAN $1000
The best road bike for you is the one that will meet your needs for the long-term, as well as the short term. Do your homework and consider how each type of bicycle would meet your riding needs and goals. The right one is a few clicks and reviews away.
1. Trek Domane AL2
- Frame Material: Aluminum
- Groupset: Shimano Claris, eight-speed
- Weight: 22 lbs or 10 kg
The Domane AL 2 is a sleek black bicycle with red Trek lettering. The Trek is a good beginner road bike that is lightweight as well as durable. The frame is a waterproof aluminum frame design that helps you travel rougher city roads without jarring your ride. The Shimano bicycle gives you sixteen different speeds with integrated brakes that help you easily stop and start without taking your hands from the handlebars.
The bicycle is perfect for riding the roads. The bike will give you a good balance that has the right combination of balance and comfort. Your new bicycle has the IsoSpeed Carbon fork that helps the bike absorb the bumps and road vibrations, so you can bike for hours without your arms feeling fatigued. You can easily track your rides wirelessly using the Duotrap S that can help you set goals for your rides and help you gradually reach them.
2. Giant Contend AR3
- Frame Material: ALUXX-Grade Aluminum
- Groupset: Shimano Sora, nine-speed
- Weight: 22.7 lbs or 10.3 kg
The Giant Contend AR3 is the bicycle to take a ride with your friend. The frame is a thing of quality and stability with a hydroformed ALUXX-Grade aluminum frame with a composite fork. Te Shimano Sora groupset will help you stay durable and light on the road. The bicycle is a good entry-level bicycle for anyone learning the road rules as a cyclist.
Built to be durable, the bicycle is ergonomically correct to help prevent rider fatigue. The design also helps the rider conserve energy as they ride to help increase the comfort over long rides. A balanced frame geometry helps make the bike comfortable to ride, but it is also comfortable to control as your balance around corners and accelerates easily through the gears.
The bicycle features disc breaks for controlled braking and a D-Fuse alloy seat that gives you an ergonomic and soft ride.
3. Salsa Journeyman Claris 700
- Frame Material: Aluminum
- Groupset: Shimano Sora, nine-speed
- Weight: 22 lbs or 10 kg
The Salsa Journeyman Claris 700 Bike is an efficient and fast seven hundred C wheel bike that has thirty-seven-millimeter tires with the ability to accommodate fifty millimeter wide tires. It is built to let you be good anywhere you need to on the road, the bike feature a frameset mount, so you can replace your car with a bicycle built to carry rear racks and saddlebags for works.
The frame of the Journeyman is all aluminum tubing with wide tire clearance and full-length cables that will withstand the weather of the road and constant ride shifting. The handlebars feature a drop bar shape design, so you can lean into your ride and make smooth turns around corners. Mechanical discos brakes ensure you can easily stop as you are cruising through the sixteen gears.
- Aluminum gravel/adventure frame with rigid fork offers excellent performance, while the 700c wheels fit riders 5'4" to 6'2" tall
- Microshift 14 speed shifter / brake lever combo and rear derailleur ensures rapid and efficient gear changes
- Alloy mechanical disc brakes provide exceptional stopping power for enhanced safety and control
4. Co-op Cycles ADV 2.1
- Frame Material: Double-butted 6061 aluminum
- Groupset: Shimano Claris, eight-speed
- Weight: 22 lbs or 10 kg
The Co-op Cycles ADV 2.1 Bike features an aluminum frame with a carbon fork to help you balance as you ride. The design also helps with long-term durability and to make the bicycle lightweight. The bike comes with a Shimano Claris two-by-eight drivetrain that double cranks to help you work your way through eight speeds and sixteen gears.
The bike has disc brakes that ensure you a controlled stop from your current speeds. The handlebar is also a twelve degree flared bar that is wide that the regular bar and more upright design. The difference in design helps it be easier to remain upright.
You will have no trouble maneuvering down regular city streets as well as hardpacked ground where you have shoulder knobs. The shoulder knobs make it easy to withstand your outdoor adventures and keep a tight grip on the bicycle as you fly down the roads.
5. Raleigh Merit 2
- Frame Material: Aluminum
- Groupset: Shimano Sora, nine-speed
- Weight: 23.4 lbs or 10.6 kg
The Raleigh Merit 2 is a bicycle built for endurance as well as long rides. The design helps the bike be comfortable to sit on and easy and efficient to operate. The bike features an aluminum fork and powerful caliper brakes that ensure you can stop when you need to.
The tires of the Raleigh Merit 2 are wider than the regular road tires to help you remain stable throughout your ride. The design of the bike is a classic road bike design that offers very precise and exact steering, so you always remain in control of the bicycle. Built for comfort as well as reliability, you can ride the Merit 2 for hours and remain comfortably in control on and off the road.
What should you look for in a road bike for less than $1000
Many types of bicycles are on the market for beginners. You need to find a bicycle you can start with, and prepare for the bicycle you will grow into. There are multiple things you need to know and understand as you look to purchase your first road bike to upgrade as your skills and your goals increase.
Frame Materials
The frames of most good and high-quality bikes below one thousand dollars are either steel or aluminum. Aluminum is a good choice as a lightweight and waterproof bicycle frame. It can withstand most types of regular bicycling activities, but you can easily damage it if you get into an accident or through your bicycle around a lot.
Steel is a good choice for a lot of reasons. Steel is one of the most durable metals you can choose to make anything out of. It is also strong, so it can take a bit more road damage and keep going. You will also notice the difference in your ride because steel absorbs more shocks than aluminum.
Frame Geometry
The shape of your bicycle frame determines the kind of comfort you will have on your ride. A more upright bicycle frame will be more comfortable to ride for extended periods than the ones that put you more forward. The frame design that puts you more over the handlebars is better for racing and extreme performance and control but is not as comfortable to ride as the more upright bicycle frames.
Groupsets
Groupsets make up most of the moving components on a bicycle. They account for the brakes, drivetrain, and shifters. Campagnolo, Shimano, and SRAM are the main types you will see. The Campagnolo brand will usually only find on the higher-end bicycles with Shimano and SRAM as more cost-effective alternatives for the mid-range bicycles as well as the higher end.
No matter which type of bicycle you get high-end, mid-range, or lower-end, you will find the main components groupset by the experience of the cyclist with the lowest group being a novice and the highest group being the pro racer. Each manufacturer will have names for the groups that the bicycle components fall into, such as Shimano’s lowest tier, the Claris, with their highest being the Tiagra.
The higher ranking the groupset within the brand has, the better the control and overall performance you will have over your bike. You will also notice the price difference. An entry-level bicycle with mid-range components such as an eight up to a ten-speed gear ratio will be a lot more cost-effective than then a bicycle prepared for racing city traffic or on a race track.
It is important to pay attention to how your new bicycle cycles through the gears and note how many gears you have. The more gears you have, the better able you are to maintain your speed and your rhythm. You will also be able to switch gears more quickly and smoothly without interrupting your ride.
Total Weight
The total weight if your bicycle is a concern if you are biking through areas with a lot of hills or you plan to move your bicycle around a lot, such as taking it on and off the bus or out to the country. You will find bicycles with aluminum frames will weigh less than ones made with steel, though the bikes that have aluminum frames will be more prone to damage from use.
Most entry-level bicycles also contain heavier wheels and frames to help with the lighter weight frame’s longevity. You will find most entry-level bicycles weight around you ten kilograms if they have an aluminum frame. Entry-level bicycles with steel frames can weigh up to thirteen kilograms with the components.